Folk Calendar

Tuesday 17 November

Born on this day: Luke Kelly (1940)

Born on this day: Vin Garbutt (1947)

Happy birthday to Rose Simpson (80 today)

Born on this day: Cecil Sharp (1859)

Folklore from the old calendars

Old Clem at Woolwich No longer kept Kent, LondonOn the evening of St Clement's Day the blacksmiths' apprentices of Woolwich dockyard chose one of their seniors to be Old Clem, in a greatcoat, a mask, an oakum wig and a long white beard.
Clementing in Worcestershire No longer kept WorcestershireA correspondent born in Worcestershire remembered boys going in a band from house to house on the afternoon of St Clement's Day.
St Clement and the hatters Lore and belief IrelandHatters had a tradition that St Clement, fleeing his persecutors, put wool between his sandals and his blistered feet, and found at the end of his journey that it had pressed into a firm cloth.
The smiths’ ode for St Clement No longer kept LondonThe secretary of the Benevolent Institution of Smiths, writing from Southwark in 1825, asked Hone not to forget St Clement, the smiths' saint.
St Clement’s pot No longer kept StaffordshirePlot's Staffordshire recorded an old custom of going about on the night of St Clement's Day to beg drink to make merry with.
Queen Mary’s St Clement’s Day procession No longer kept LondonOn St Clement's Day in Queen Mary's reign a great procession went through the streets of London.

Happy birthday to Robin Williamson (83 today)

Born on this day: Peter Opie (1918)

Folklore from the old calendars

Cathar’ning No longer kept England, KentSt Catherine was the patron of spinsters, and on her day young women met to make merry together, which was called Cathar'ning.
St Catherine’s fast Lore and belief IrelandIn Ireland women and girls once fasted every Wednesday and Saturday of the year, and some also on St Catherine's Day.
The charms of St Catharine Lore and belief EnglandMother Bunch's Golden Fortune Teller gave a charm for St Catharine's night.
The Cattern bowl at Worcester No longer kept WorcestershireUntil shortly before Ellis wrote, the dean and chapter of Worcester gave out a rich mixture of wine and spices on St Catharine's Day, the last day of their yearly audit, to the people living in the cathedral precincts.
The ropemakers’ Queen Catherine at Chatham No longer kept KentOn St Catherine's night the ropemakers of Chatham dockyard carried a woman dressed as Queen Catherine, founder of the ropery, through Chatham, Rochester and Brompton by torchlight.
Laurel for St Catherine’s learned men Lore and belief EnglandBy St Catherine's Day only the evergreen laurel was left in leaf, and the rhyme of the saints' flowers says it crowned learned men on her feast, since Catherine was the patron of scholars.
Five hundred lights round St Paul’s steeple No longer kept LondonOn the evening of St Catherine's Day 1553, five hundred great lights were carried round the steeple of St Paul's in her procession.

Born on this day: Elizabeth Crotty (1885)

Folklore from the old calendars

The boy bishop Still kept WiltshireOn St Nicholas's Day a chorister was chosen as boy bishop and, with a boy dean and chapter, carried out the bishop's offices until Holy Innocents' Day.
Cocks and pence at Wye School No longer kept KentHasted recorded that the master of Wye School in Kent, founded by Archbishop Kempe in 1447, was to teach grammar free to rich and poor alike.
Breaking the master’s cellar door at Curry Rivel No longer kept SomersetOn St Nicholas's Day the schoolboys of Curry Rivel, who were taught in a school inside the church, had a barrel of good ale brought into the church.
Orders, Master, orders No longer kept YorkshireAround St Nicholas's Day, the schoolboys' patron, northern grammar school boys shut their master out and chanted for their orders before letting him back in.
The child bishop sings to Queen Mary No longer kept LondonIn 1554 the boy bishop of St Paul's and his company were admitted to Queen Mary's privy chamber and sang before her on St Nicholas's Day.
The boy bishop’s dinner at Lambeth No longer kept London, SurreyOn St Nicholas's Day the boy bishop of Lambeth and his company were given a dinner at the parish's expense.

Born on this day: Meredydd Evans (1919)